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Fine Art

Sultan the Pit Pony

Sultan the Pit Pony, is a contemporary raised-earth sculpture located in a former coal mining area of Wales in Caerphilly. Created by Mick Petts, the earth sculpture is named ‘Sultan’ in honor of a pit pony who had once labored in the local mines. Until the early 1980’s, ponies were used to haul the heavy tubs of coal to the surface. This engraving shows a pony being lowered into the depths. At the peak of coal production in the early twentieth century, there were more than 70,000 ponies laboring deep within the Earth. Sixty thousand tons of coal shale was used to create the enormous tribute, also a reminder of the Industrial Revolution that changed Britain forever. .